Oil chiller



Nov. 13, 1951 E A. EDMNDS OIL CHILLER 2 SHEETS-SHEET l Filed'Aug. 29, 1947 Fig. 1'

Fig. 5

INVENTOR.

Eugene A50/mono@ BY MM ATT ORZVEY `NOV. 13, 1951 E, A EDMONDS 2,574,818

OIL CHILLER K Filed Aug. 29, 1947 `l zusHEETs-SHEET 2 Fig. 4

INVEN-ToR. fayene Edmonds Y @www AYTORNEY Patented Nov. 13, 1951 OIL CHILLER Eugene A. Edmonds, Louisville, Ky., asslgnor to Henry Vogt Machine Company, Louisville, Ky., a. corporation of Kentucky Application August 29, 1947, Serial N0. 7 71,228

The present invention relates to oil chillers, and relates in particular to improvements in the structure thereof for facilitating and reducing the cost of manufacture thereof.

In my Patent No. 2,405,944 there is shown ana described a chiller structure comprising a plurality of units, each unit comprising a shell adapted to contain a refrigerant, and having a plurality of tubes therein through which flows the oil to be chilled, the ends of the tubes lbeing alternately interconnected by reverse fittings. Because of the low temperatures and the pressures employed, and the confined space at the end of each chiller unit, the construction of such units presents a difiicult manufacturing problern. The manufacturing problem is further complicated by the necessity of providing for easy repair of the structure, or replacement of broken parts.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a chiller unit having the tubes interconnected by a structure which is easy to assemble or disassemble.

A further object is the provision in a chiller unit of a reverse fitting structure at the ends, which may be prefabricated in small units and is easily assembled to the unit.

Another object is the provision in a chiller unit or reverse fittings for the tail end opposite the driving end, which provides a simple support for the scraper, and Awhich enables the scraper unit to be removed Without dismantling the driving end.

Another object is the provision of a chiller unit having an improved indicator assembly which may be removed without disturbing the scraper.

In accordance with one feature of the present invention, the tubular units and outer shell are welded to suitable tube sheets or end plates, and the reverse fittings, which are prefabricated of welding Ts and flanges into a unitary fitting, are bolted to the tube sheets. This construction has the advantage that the' labor involved in making the reverse fittings is reduced, and the reverse fittings are readilyl removable to give access to the tubular units for replacement or repair. Furthermore the prefabrication of the reverse fittings from welding tees and flanges permits such fittings to be normalized and machined toaccurate dimensions, prior to assembly to the chiller unit, so as toieliminate strains within the nttings. The prefabrication of the 'fittings also eliminates thev welding ofthe" Tis in the confined space at the ends of the tube; For

Claims. (Cl. 62-114) example, a chiller unit carrying seven six-inch tubes in a sheet twenty-seven inches in diameter provides a space of only about three inches between tubes, and in such confined space the welding of the fittings is exceedingly diiiicult to accomplish.

A further feature of the invention is the provision of a removable tail end structure which carries the scraper bearing, the scraper being releasably coupled to the drive shaft, so that upon removal of the tail end cover the scraper may be removed without disturbing the drive end. The tail end cover may also carry a suitable shoulderedl rotation indicator 'extending through a stufling box therein and which is removable without removal of the tail end cover.

The invention will be described in greater de'- tail in connection with the accompanying drawings showing a preferred` embodiment of the invention by way of example, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a chiller with parts broken away,

Figure 2 is an end view of Figure 1 as viewed from the left.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2, with parts removed and Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 3 with parts removed. y

Referring to the drawing, Figure 1, there .is shown a framework supporting a pair of chiller units 2,r 3 which are similar so that only one unit will be described in detail. Each chiller unit comprises an outer cylindrical shell 4 (Figs. 1, 4 and 5) terminating in flanged tube sheets 5 and 6, the shells 4 being suitably welded at their ends to the tube sheets, as indicated at 'I and 8. Each tube sheet has a plurality of apertures 9 therein, and a tube I I is received in each aperture 9 and is welded at its ends I2 and I3 to the tube sheets. Although al1 the tubes are alike, the seven tubes of unit 2 in shell 4 are designated as A, B, C', D, E, F, G, for the purpose of facilitating the description. g

At the left or inlet end of unit 2 a anged T fitting I 4 (Fig. 2) is provided at the end of a tube II (A), the fitting being bolted to the tube sheet 6 in alignment with a tube II and having a branch I5 suitably connected to the outlet I6 of lower unit 3. lOil enters the lower unit at I1 (Fig.v 1), and after traversing the unit exits therefrom through branches `II and I5 to tube II (A) (Fig. 2) ofthe upper unit and o'ws to" the right as viewedin Fig. 1. At the right -t'f 'the flange.

end of tube Il (A) the oil is conducted by a reverse fitting I (Figs. 1 and 3) to a tube II (B). Oil passes to the left through tube II (B) and at the left end is conducted by a fitting I9 (Figs. 2 and 4) to tube II (C) flowing to the right in tube II (C), and by a reverse fitting 20 to tube II (D), and so on, and is discharged at the right end 'of tube Il (G) through a T fitting v2| similar to fitting I1. The fitting I9 between tubes II (B) and (C) at the left end now will be described.

Referring to Fig. 4, two welding Ts 22 and 2A have the stem ends 24 and 25 welded together at 26 to provide an H-structure or fitting designated generally by the numeral' I9. One end of T 22 has a ange 28 welded thereto at 29, and the corresponding end of the other fitting,

which it flows from left to right.

u Eachf'tube II contains a stub shaft 36 upon which is bolted or otherwise removably secured -azscraper 31.ona sleeve 38 which rotates with theshaft, vthe scraper serving to remove accumulated wax from the insides of the tubes and to improve heatexchange. The portion 22 of the .fitting I9 has a ange member 39 welded to its end at'4l and a bonnet 42 is suitably bolted A A combined thrust and radial vb'all'bearing assembly 43 is held in a recess in te'gral head 45 V which bears longitudinally against the bearing.' An indicator shaft 46 passes through ar suitablefstuifing box 41 threaded into the 'bonnetand has'fan' enlarged head 48 with atogue 49 received'in 'a recess or slot 50 in the head 45, so asto be rotatably coupled theretby'an Oldham type'"cou'lflingfy Thelhead 48 engaging the stuffing box 41 preven ts the indi- "c'ator` shaft 'from being vblown out by internal pressure. Portion 23 is, of identical construction and therefore isun'ot described vin detail.

w The fitting 2,0. at` theopposite or right end `f tube II (C) is similarly made up of two reduing Tr s 5I,` 52 (Fig. f5) welded together at ,'53.,to form anw-structure, and having flanges 5 4v` andY `55 Welded `thereto by which the fitting i('sbolted tothe tube sheet 5: in alignment with tubes II (C) vand (D). The T's 5I and 52 have lrerdurced'opposite ends togwhich are welded stuffing-boxes v56and 51. A drive shaft 59 having alzsquare end' ,6 0 passes through the stuffing box 5B; and is retained. against the .internal pressure any suitable manner.` Asleeve 6I has one bolted to scraper shaft38, the other end providing afsquared socket y63 which receives thelsquare end`60 of the-drive.shaft. The cou- Plngmembelor ,Sleeve .61 maybe made by' forging a steel sleeveor 4in'anygother suitable mannen-Shaft 64 is similarlyfcoupled to a scraper sleeve (not shown) and -is-not described in :detail.- -`It will be understoodthat .the reverse nttings at. the leftend are all identical, `and vthe reverse nttings at the right end-are; identical, so that nofurtherdescription-thereof -is needed yto -explaintheir construction. Shafts` 59, 64; etc. garry sproclsetslS.K at their ,endsw 4over-,which pvassesla suitablegmotor drivenfchain (not shown) .Rianhitli arrangement.thescrapers `in eachtube .75 2. den @miler 4 II are rotated. If desired, each scraper may be rotated by an individual hydraulic motor.

The welded reverse ttings I9, 20 and the welded elbow fittings I4, I1 and 2| can be prefabricated before assembly to the tube sheets, with the aid of suitable jigs Vor fixtures, after which they are normalized to relieve strains and are machined to the required Igftlimensions. As such parts are of small dimension they may be readily handled in the fabrication operation. These fittings are bolted to the tube sheets 5 and 6 ,V and are readily removable so that the tubes II throughwhich the oil flows are thus rendered accessible for replacement or repair. To renew thevtubes it is'necessary only to remove the reverse fittings, chip out the weld between a tube II andthe tube sheet, and insert and weld a new tube in place, then replace the bolted f1tting. i

The pressure thrustlon the scraper shaft 36 iscarried by the bearing 43, which may be of the combined radial and thrust type, the head 45 bearing against the bearing which is retained by plate 44. The indicator shaft 46 is coupled by the tongue and groove connection 49, 50 to the scraper shaft, and the enlarged end 48 provides an abutment shoulderwhich engages the stuffing box 41. The indicator shaft can be removed by removing the stuffing box 41 from the bonnet 42, releasing the packing gland thereof, and withdrawing the indicator. -The scraper is accessible .Without disturbing the drive end of the apparatus. To remove the scraper it is necessary only to remove the bolted bonnet 42 from the flange end 39 of the fitting, whereupon the scraper shaft 36, scraper sleeve 38, scraper shaft B2 and collpling sleeve 6I may be removed through the opening thus provided, the coupling sleeve 6I being carried along with the scraper. In assembly it isrnecessary only to apply the ball bearing member 4 3tothe stub shaft 36, secure the plate 44 to the bonnet 42VV and Athescraper-to the stub shaft, and insert the scraper into tube II .to couple the sleeve 6I yto Yshaft 59, jand then bolt the bonnet in-place. -The-stuing box. 41 carrying the indicatershaft-46 then can be'threaded into the bonnet to couplethevtongue 49 into groove 50. Thefrepair or replacement of the various parts thusis greatly simplified. l

HA-TheA chiller constructionfjherein described is SaSyztomanufacture vor assemble, and the parts are readily accessible or'replacement or repair. The cost of manufacture also is reduced by fabricating the reverse fittings in small units, and suchgunits are easy tofassemble and disassemble from the tube sheets.

Having described my invention, I claim:

.f l1.,An oil Chiller comprising perforate end plates, an outer shell welded at the ends to the periphery of said endplates, a series of tubes in said shell welded at the ends thereof in the perforations of said end plates, preformed reverse connections between alternate pairs of tubesvat one end, each comprisingY a pair of welding T members together torprovidean H`shaped reverse connection member, Aiiangesf'welded to one set of ends of said TT memberspboltsinf-said-anges for detachably Y securing rsaid reverse connection members to said end vplates,stu1ing box members prewelded to saidreverseconnection members-at the drive sideiLOpposite-saidflanges, drive shaftsextending through said stuffing boxes; and craperfmembers. fn said-'tubes providing sockets removably coupled tofsagidfdrive shaf ts.-,ff, 3

cemprieinsi a .reir offerid plates; a series of tubes secured in said end plates; flanged generally H-shapedreverse connections between alternate pairs o1' tubes at one end bolted to an end plate; bonnets detachably secured to the exterior ends of the reverse connections, an end thrust bearing member secured in each bonnet; a shaft journalled in each bearing member and having a flange exterior of the bearing limiting endwise movement of the shaft, whereby the bearing takes the endwise thrust of the shaft; a scraper detachably connected to said shaft and a slip joint socket at the opposite end of the scraper for reception of a drive shaft, the axial openings through the H-connections being of a size to allow the scraper to be removed therethrough upon removal of the bonnet and bearing. A 3. An oil chiller as specified in claim 2 having a stuiiing box removably attached in each said bonnet. and an internally shouldered shaft detachably coupled to said shaft flange and extending through the stuilng box with the shoulder thereof engaging the stuffing box.

4. An oil chiller comprising: perforate end plates; an outer shell welded at the ends to the periphery of said end plates; a series of tubes in said shell welded at the ends thereof in the perforations of said end plates; H-shaped reverse connection members between alternate pairs of tubes at each end, said connection members having flanges at one set of ends thereof and having stufling box members at the drive ends opposite said flanges; bolts in said flanges for detachably securing said reverse connection members to one `said end plate; drive shafts extending through said stufllng boxes; and scraper members in said tubes providing sockets removably coupled to said drive shafts.

5. An oil chiller comprising: perforate end plates; an outer shell permanently attached at the ends to the periphery of said end plates; a series of tubes in said shell permanently attached at the ends thereof in the perforations of said end plates; preformed H-shaped reverse connection members between alternate pairs of tubes at each end, said connections having flanges at one set of ends thereof and having stumng box members at the drive ends opposite said flanges; bolts in said flanges for detachably securing said reverse connection members to one said end plate; drive shafts extending through said stung boxes; and scraper members in said tubes providing sockets removably coupled to said drive shafts.

l EUGENE A. EDMONDS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

